PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – A veteran of 12 playoff seasons, Aaron Rodgers knows what needs to happen for the Steelers to not only reach the postseason, but win. Rodgers said they need to lock in, immediately.
“I think this is the time where the focus maybe has to go up a little bit more and the serious approach needs to needs to maybe tighten up a little bit more,” Rodgers said Wednesday. “I love what a loose team we are. Sometimes you gotta maybe crank that thing up just to maybe one percent and get a little bit more locked in.”
It’s as critical as Rodgers has been in Pittsburgh, discussing the room and tightening up some of the details that not only have impacted the last six weeks, but the entire season. It’s mental errors and missed assignments plaguing this group. It’s something he said the team has tried to figure out all year. You might immediately think that reflects on Mike Tomlin exclusively, but the veteran quarterback said it’s about the guys in the room.
“It's really on the players, you know,” Rodgers said. “Monday to Saturday is when you win a lot of these football games and just dial in in the plan and being able to fix things when they happen in real time and being able to make a bad play doable. And if we can do that, then we're gonna put ourselves in a position to win all six of these games.”
Three of those games are in the division, two are on the road and a pair are against the team you share first place with, the Baltimore Ravens. Rodgers said they had a good meeting on Monday. They got together and watched tape on Tuesday and they will see how practice graded out Wednesday and how they approach Thursday. Then he will get a feeling if that mindset or focus has changed.
“The preparation is there, it's the execution,” Rodgers said. “This has been the entire season, you know, just a little bit off on some of the details. So we can tighten that thing up, all eleven of us, and I expect this to play really well.”
It’s a near prime-time game by Rodgers estimation with a 4:25 kick and Jim Nantz and the CBS Sports A-team broadcasting.
“We got the fans all day to get ready, you know, or most of the day to get ready for the game,” Rodgers said. “We need a loud crowd out there and getting great effort. You know, these are the kind of games that you win and take a lot of momentum from as you move forward and obviously we know what's after this one.”
They either go into Baltimore with that momentum, or potentially behind them in the division for the first time this season.